After Trying To Pursue The Cold, Elegant Beauty. I Ended Up Being Flirted With Instead - Chapter 53

It needs to be completely and utterly broken.

Wen Zhu tore apart this one sided beautiful dream mercilessly, leaving it bloody and raw.

By the time Pei Xiubai regained her senses, the heavy fire door had slammed shut behind her with a bang.

In the stairwell, the light was dim, with only a small window letting in a hint of faint light, stretching her shadow into a distorted shape.

Just like her heart, which was squeezed and twisted out of shape.

Wen Zhu’s last words echoed in her mind over and over, like an inescapable curse.

Even her breathing carried a sharp pain.

She really didn’t know…

Was Wen Zhu living a life like that at the Pei family’s house?

Pei Xiubai gripped her hair tightly, her knuckles turning white from the effort.

Wen Zhu suffered so much, and she, damn it, really didn’t know!

She actually believed Wen Zhu every time she said, “I’m very happy.”

All these years, what exactly was she doing?

A massive wave of guilt and shock swept over her, threatening to swallow her whole.

She wanted to turn and chase after her, but she didn’t dare to face Wen Zhu again.

She didn’t dare to face the scarred Wen Zhu, whom she had overlooked for so many years.

After standing rooted to the spot for what felt like an eternity, Pei Xiubai finally pushed open the heavy door in a daze and returned to the ward.

In the ward, Jiang Xinxin was already awake.

The nurse Pei Xiubai had hired was feeding her breakfast, spoon by spoon.

Seeing Pei Xiubai enter, Jiang Xinxin immediately curved her eyes, her voice soft and sweet, “President Pei, where did you go? When I woke up and didn’t see you, I thought you had left.”

Pei Xiubai didn’t answer.

She seemed not to have heard Jiang Xinxin’s words, walking straight to the sofa and sitting down, staring blankly ahead, as if her soul had been drained from her body.

The atmosphere in the ward instantly became tense.

The smile on Jiang Xinxin’s face froze, and she forgot to open her mouth for the spoonful the nurse offered.

Suddenly, Pei Xiubai seemed to remember something, abruptly stood up from the sofa, grabbed the jacket draped nearby, and headed for the door.

She had to go back.

She had to go back immediately and ask her mother if she had truly hurt Wen Zhu in the shadows, just as Wen Zhu had said!

“President Pei!”

Seeing her about to leave, Jiang Xinxin’s voice turned desperate, and she instinctively moved to lift the blanket and get out of bed.

“Oh dear, Miss Jiang, your leg is still injured!” The nurse quickly put down the bowl and scrambled to support her.

But Pei Xiubai acted as if she hadn’t heard the commotion behind her, striding out without looking back, her figure quickly disappearing through the doorway.

Jiang Xinxin stared at the empty doorway, a heart full of grievance and unwillingness surging up, her eyes instantly turning red.

She pushed the nurse away, her voice laced with barely suppressed anger, “Go! Go ask the nurses’ station who President Pei met this morning!”

The nurse didn’t dare to delay and hurried out.

It wasn’t long before the nurse returned, a trace of caution on her face.

“I asked… The nurse said she saw President Pei meet two women this morning.”

“One of them dropped off breakfast and left, and the other… President Pei took into the stairwell. They seemed to talk for a long time. After that woman left, President Pei came out looking, well, looking as utterly distraught as she was just now.”

It was Wen Zhu.

It had to be Wen Zhu!

Jiang Xinxin concluded almost instantly.

A sharp, poisonous snake of jealousy and hatred gnawed at her heart.

It was Wen Zhu again!

Why was she always haunting them!

Why didn’t that chandelier kill her?

Why was she so lucky to be alive!

Jiang Xinxin bit her lower lip hard, tasting a hint of blood.

She absolutely would not, absolutely would not let Pei Xiubai be taken away by that woman!

When Wen Zhu returned to the ward, Li Zhiyun was watching TV, looking bored.

Hearing the door open, she turned her head.

Her gaze lingered on Wen Zhu’s slightly red eyes for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Li Zhiyun asked.

“Nothing,” Wen Zhu shook her head, forced a smile, and held up the thermos box in her hand, “Look, I stewed rock sugar snow pear for you.”

“This is the only thing I can stew, don’t mind it.”

She skillfully set up the small table over the hospital bed and placed the warm dessert on it.

Li Zhiyun watched her busy back, then suddenly called out.

“Qingqing.” (Note: Qingqing means ‘Lightly/Gently’)

Wen Zhu’s movements halted, and she froze completely.

She turned back, surprised and stunned, unable to believe what she had heard.

“You… what did you call me?”

“Qingqing, of course,” Li Zhiyun smiled, like a spring breeze brushing over a lake, “Am I not allowed to call you that? I think it’s a lovely name.”

She stretched out her uninjured hand and squeezed Wen Zhu’s wrist.

“However,” Li Zhiyun’s tone shifted, “Your nickname isn’t so good.”

“You do everything so cautiously, you walk without a sound, you don’t like to trouble others, you want to minimize your presence as much as possible.”

“How about you be called Zhongzhong (Note: Zhongzhong means ‘Heavily/Greatly’) from now on.”

Wen Zhu: “…”

For a moment, she didn’t know whether she should laugh or not.

The jokes Li Zhiyun made were still as dry as ever.

But being sidetracked by her like this, the emotions that had been churning in the stairwell seemed to have been gently smoothed over by a tender hand.

The suffocating blockage in her chest unknowingly dissipated.

She fed a spoonful to Li Zhiyun’s mouth: “As long as you get better quickly, I’m willing to be called whatever you want.”

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Zhiyun’s injuries were healing well, and she would soon be discharged.

In fact, she had wanted to leave earlier, but Li Zhishu insisted that she stay a few more days for observation, and even dragged Wen Zhu along for a thorough full body check-up.

Only after confirming that both of them were completely unharmed did Li Zhishu finally relent and allow Li Zhiyun to be discharged.

On the day of discharge, Wen Zhu unexpectedly saw Jiang Xinxin in the hospital lobby.

She seemed to be leaving today as well, accompanied only by a nurse, sitting in a wheelchair.

Seeing Wen Zhu, Jiang Xinxin proactively asked the nurse to push the wheelchair over, forcing a smile onto her pale face.

“Sister Wen Zhu, what a coincidence.”

Wen Zhu’s gaze fell on Jiang Xinxin’s injured calf. It looked quite serious.

She still didn’t know whether the chandelier incident was Jiang Xinxin’s doing, so she only responded coldly.

“It is quite a coincidence, you’re also being discharged today.”

“Yes,” Jiang Xinxin said with a smile, “President Pei was going to pick me up, but I told her not to. She said she’d go back first and prepare a small party for me to celebrate my discharge. Sister Wen Zhu, would you like to come along?”

Wen Zhu stared at her for a moment, then suddenly said, “Sure, where is it?”

The smile on Jiang Xinxin’s face froze.

“At…” She couldn’t name a location for a long time.

“Miss Jiang,” Wen Zhu smiled, interrupting her, “You don’t need to show off in front of me. Pei Xiubai was still in Yancheng yesterday, there’s no way she’s back today to throw you a party.”

“If you don’t have anyone to pick you up, would you like me to drop off Miss Li and then come back for you?”

Jiang Xinxin’s smile almost slipped off her face. She gripped the wheelchair armrests, “No need.”

Wen Zhu hadn’t genuinely planned to drive her, and seeing her refusal, she helped Li Zhiyun away.

As they walked, Li Zhiyun suddenly asked, “How did you know Pei Xiubai went back to Yancheng?”

“Xin Tiantian told me,” Wen Zhu said.

Fearing that Li Zhiyun might not know who Xin Tiantian was, she added, “Xin Tiantian is the one who kept bothering you a few days ago, Pei Xiubai’s cousin.”

Xin Tiantian had been messaging her constantly these past few days.

The messages claimed that Pei Xiubai had returned to the old family home in Yancheng for her sake.

She had a huge fight with Pei family’s matriarch, Qiao Yu, and even forced Qiao Yu to apologize to her.

Qiao Yu was almost hospitalized from the anger.

Xin Tiantian also said that Pei Xiubai truly realized her mistake and pleaded with Wen Zhu to give Pei Xiubai one more chance.

“You don’t know how upset my aunt was because of my cousin. My cousin asked every single servant of the Pei family, even the ones who quit, determined to find out how you really lived in the Pei house.”

“Sister Qingqing, just come back. My cousin will definitely treat you well this time!”

When Wen Zhu saw this message, she was silent for only a second.

Then, she blocked Xin Tiantian as well.

Since it had to be broken off, it needed to be completely and utterly broken.

She didn’t believe Xin Tiantian came to persuade her because of how well she had treated her in the past.

Wen Zhu didn’t bring up the topic again, turning instead to open the car door for Li Zhiyun.

The one who came to pick them up was Zang Ying.

The car quickly arrived at the restaurant Li Zhishu had booked.

As the group got out of the car, they saw Li Zhishu standing at the entrance of the restaurant.

Next to her was a blazing brazier.

In her hand, she even held a small bundle of vibrant green pomelo leaves.

Seeing the two approach, Li Zhishu immediately beckoned.

“Hurry, come over.”

Wen Zhu and Li Zhiyun walked toward her.

“Don’t go that way, come over here and step over the brazier, both of you have to cross it, take a big stride!”

Li Zhiyun was from Hong Kong and didn’t quite understand, but she complied.

Wen Zhu vaguely guessed what was happening and followed suit, stepping over.

After they crossed the brazier, Li Zhishu used the pomelo leaves to pat them in circles.

She chanted as she patted: “One swipe to drive away evil spirits, two pats to cleanse the body, three sweeps for good luck to arrive! Pomelo leaves bring blessing, henceforth no disasters, all smooth sailing!”

“Bad luck, go away, go away, go away!”

“Misfortune, go away, go away, go away!”

Wen Zhu found it very new.

Since childhood, she had only ever been disliked, this was the first time someone was willing to go to the effort to do these things for her.

She felt a refreshing fragrance from the pomelo leaves patting her body.

Li Zhiyun stood quietly, allowing her sister to complete the entire ritual, before finally speaking.

“What exactly are you doing?”

“I’m sweeping away bad luck for you two, of course,” Li Zhishu said matter of factly.

“These are pomelo leaves I specifically requested from a temple.”

Zang Ying, who was standing behind Li Zhishu, quietly flashed a ‘V’ sign.

Wen Zhu understood and tentatively asked, “Two hundred?”

Zang Ying showed a look that seemed to say, “Haven’t you seen the world?”

“Two thousand…”

Wen Zhu was about to say that was still manageable.

Then she heard Zang Ying slowly utter two words.

“Per leaf.”

Wen Zhu immediately looked at the bundle of vibrant green leaves in Li Zhishu’s hand in shock.

This was more expensive than gold?

Seeing the visible heartache in Wen Zhu’s eyes, Li Zhishu immediately burst into laughter.

She couldn’t help but reach out and gently rub Wen Zhu’s cheek.

“Why is little Wen Zhu so adorable?”

Li Zhishu’s eyes curved with her smile, “It’s not expensive. As long as it drives away bad luck for you two, this donation money is worth it!”

The touch beneath her hands was delicate and soft.

Just as she was about to give another squeeze, she felt a cool gaze cast from the side.

Li Zhishu glared back, silently telling her with her eyes: I am your older sister!

Li Zhiyun looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

The meaning was clear:

Even a sister is not allowed.

Li Zhishu pouted, withdrew her hand, and beckoned the others.

“Alright, alright, hurry up and go inside to eat.”

After resting for another two days.

In the club, Wen Zhu and Li Zhiyun were sitting opposite each other.

On the chessboard, the black and white pieces intertwined, the battle fierce.

These past few days, whenever Wen Zhu had a moment, she played chess with Li Zhiyun. She was very rusty at first, but slowly, that long-lost feeling of controlling the board returned bit by bit.

She was deeply engrossed in the game when the door to the private room was suddenly pushed open.

Zang Ying rushed in frantically, holding a document in her hand.

“My two esteemed ancestors, I finally found you!”

She slapped the competition schedule onto the table, “The location and time for the next match are out, it’s in Yancheng.”

Yancheng…

Wen Zhu tightened her grip on the white piece in her hand.

After all the twists and turns, did she still have to return to the place where she grew up?

Zang Ying seemed to have only come in to announce the news, and she quickly hurried out again to book plane tickets.

As soon as she left, the private room returned to quiet.

Li Zhiyun looked at the white piece Wen Zhu had placed in the wrong position on the board, and raised her eyes, “If you don’t want to go back, we don’t have to compete.”

Wen Zhu shook her head, forcing a smile, “It’s fine, I was just surprised, the competition is more important, of course.”

“After the competition, we can go back to Tongcheng.”

When she said this, Wen Zhu was momentarily taken aback herself.

She then belatedly realized that, without knowing when, she had subconsciously started treating Tongcheng as her home.

Thinking of the apartment she had rented in Yancheng but hadn’t lived in for more than a few days, Wen Zhu sighed, regretting the money spent on rent.

She was still inexperienced; she had paid a whole year’s rent upfront, and now she hadn’t even stayed a single day!

A few days later, Yancheng Airport.

Li Zhishu was busy with work, so she returned to Tongcheng and didn’t come along.

It was already late at night when the plane landed, and the group got into the commercial vehicle that had come to pick them up.

In the car, Zang Ying was busy arranging accommodation on her phone.

“The hotel is booked, same as usual, two people per room. Miaomiao, you’re with Enjing, Wen Zhu, you’re with”

“I won’t be staying there,” Wen Zhu suddenly interrupted.

Zang Ying and Li Zhiyun both looked at her.

Wen Zhu met their gaze and explained, “I have a place to stay in Yancheng. I want to go home, so I won’t waste your budget.”

Zang Ying knew Wen Zhu was from Yancheng and was about to agree, but then noticed Li Zhiyun’s gaze directed at her.

She immediately changed her mind, “Oh, speaking of which, the hotel rooms seem to be a bit short? Wen Zhu, since you’re going back, how about taking someone with you to stay at your place?”

With that, Zang Ying pointed to Li Zhiyun next to her, “Zhiyun usually hates staying in hotels. Xiao Zhu, why don’t you take her in?”

Li Zhiyun cooperated perfectly, blinking her eyes.

She had grown curious; would Wen Zhu’s room be as lovely as Wen Zhu herself?

Hearing that the rooms were short, Wen Zhu felt troubled.

But weren’t there enough rooms just now?

Li Zhiyun might not like staying in hotels, but her place was smaller than a hotel…

She thought about it and still refused.

She couldn’t let a young lady like Li Zhiyun endure hardship at her place.

Wen Zhu softened her voice, looking at Li Zhiyun as if coaxing a child, “You should still stay in the hotel. My place is too small, you might not be comfortable, and there’s only one bed.”

The car happened to drive past her neighborhood, and Wen Zhu asked the driver to stop.

“Then I’ll head back first, see you tomorrow.” She waved at the two in the car and got out.

Watching Wen Zhu’s retreating back, Li Zhiyun’s plan was foiled.

She withdrew her gaze and looked at Zang Ying, saying flatly, “Next time, remember to say I’m allergic to hotels.”

Zang Ying thought, Would Wen Zhu believe that?

Wen Zhu has seen you stay in hotels before.

But she still agreed verbally, “Alright, alright, next time I’ll definitely say you’re suffering from allergies and need Xiao Zhu to comfort you to get better.”

Back in her small apartment, everything remained as it was before Wen Zhu left for Tongcheng.

A large box of belongings was only half unpacked, piled haphazardly in the corner.

But Wen Zhu didn’t have the energy to unpack today.

She quickly took a shower and made her bed.

The thought of sleeping in her own bed tonight brightened her mood.

Just as she finished making the bed and was about to lie down, her phone screen lit up.

Wen Zhu thought it was Zang Ying or Li Zhiyun and picked it up to open it.

When she clearly saw the name of the sender, her cheerful mood instantly vanished.

It was Qiao Yu.

Pei Xiubai’s mother.

The message was very short, just one line.

[Are you free tomorrow? Let’s meet.]